The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) called on Monday for an end to attacks on Gaza hospitals after Israel struck one and invaded another in the past few days.
“Gaza's hospitals have once again become a battlefield and the health care system is under serious threat,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X.
“We repeat: stop attacks on hospitals. Gazans need access to health care. Humanitarians need access to provide health care. Cease-fire!”
The Israeli military said Hamas militants were the target of Sunday's attack on Al Wafa Hospital in Gaza City, which the Palestinian Civil Defense said killed seven people.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said an Israeli airstrike closed a large hospital in Gaza on Friday. Kamal Adwan Hospital was the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza, and WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris says this “vital” lifeline for local Palestinians no longer exists.
Israeli forces also detained over 240 Palestinians on Friday, including several dozen medical workers at Kamal Adwan Hospital. Among those detained was its director Hussam Abu Safiya, according to health authorities in the enclave and the Israeli military.
The Israeli military said the hospital was used as a command center for Hamas military operations and that those arrested were suspected militants. It said Abu Safiya was taken for questioning on suspicion of being a Hamas agent.
Tedros, who was embroiled in an Israeli attack on Yemen's main airport last week that he believed could have cost him his life, called for Abu Safiya's immediate release and said Al-Ahli Hospital was also facing attacks.
Tedros said WHO and partners delivered essential medical supplies, food and water to an Indonesian hospital in Gaza, and 10 critically ill patients were transferred to Al Shifa Hospital. He added that four patients were detained during transport.
“We call on Israel to ensure that its health care needs and rights are respected,” Tedros said.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 45,541 Palestinians have been killed and 108,338 injured in the Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
The war was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which, according to Israeli data, approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken to Gaza as hostages.